Aquavan . . .
aquatic education on the move

The Aquavan, a school bus-sized truck decorated with brightly coloured seashore and wetland critters, has been cruising the highways of British Columbia since 1994. Each year, this mobile centrepiece for the outreach division of the Vancouver Aquarium’s Education Department travels over 16,000 km (10,000 mi.) to deliver aquatic education programs featuring live marine and freshwater creatures like sea stars and salamanders to over 16,000 students of all ages in their own schools and communities.

School programs

Aquavan school programs complement the B.C. science curricula. Each program is designed for one class of up to thirty students. Primary (K–Gr. 4) and Intermediate (Grs. 5–7) programs last one hour. A maximum of five programs can be delivered per day. Secondary level programs (Grs. 8–12) last an hour and a half. A maximum of three programs can be delivered per day. As of January 1997, fees were $6.50 (Can.) per student for Primary and Intermediate programs, and $7.50 per student for Secondary programs, with a minimum charge of $650 per day.

Programs usually take place in a gym or activity room. Each program begins with the class sitting on benches or on the floor in front of a seashore or marsh backdrop for an interactive, sometimes theatrical, introduction outlining the program themes. The programs are designed to be run by three Aquavan educators. After the introduction, the educators divide the class into three or four groups, depending on the program, to explore the themes at hands-on stations.

The K–Gr. 2 program Water Wonders deals with how seashore animals eat, move and protect themselves. The Gr. 3–4 program Staying Alive deals with how animals obtain food, oxygen and protection in different habitats—an estuary, seashore, sea bottom and open ocean. For Grs. 5–7, the Aquavan offers three programs: Lives of the Wet and Spineless, which focuses on adaptations of marine invertebrates to intertidal life; Wade Into Wetlands, which deals with the many ways animals use wetlands; and Marine Mammals, which features adaptations to aquatic life of marine mammals of B.C. The secondary program for Grs. 8–12, Intertidal Marine Biology, examines adaptations of marine invertebrates to intertidal life.

Primary and Intermediate groups sit at stations on a large blue tarp (9.1 m x 12.2 m = 30 ft. x 40 ft.) laid out on the floor to represent the ocean. Younger groups (K–Gr. 4) stay with the group leader through all the stations. The Wade Into Wetlands, Lives of the Wet and Spineless and Intertidal Marine Biology programs have four stations, including one supervised by the teacher-in-charge, a volunteer, or a high school student volunteering for work experience. Students in these programs rotate among the three staff facilitators. Secondary students seem more concerned about wrinkles in their clothing and prefer to stand at stations set up on tables. Programs conclude with the group reviewing what they have learned and discussing ways they impact aquatic habitats and how they can help conserve them.

Community programs

Community programs are less structured than school programs. Displays are set up on tables in malls or community centres, usually open to the general public or a designated community group. Aquavan facilitators help visitors explore the tables displaying pictures and hands-on artifacts. As of January 1997, the client is charged a standard per day fee of $975 (Can.) for five hours of programming.

Each situation varies, but the displays generally include a mobile habitat that displays marine life, touch tubs with hardy live invertebrates, marine mammal artifacts, an interactive computer program about Steller sea lion research, a variety of shells, 3D anatomical models, live wetlands invertebrate and amphibians and a video microscope.

In addition to regular Aquavan staff, sometimes Aquarium-trained volunteers help with facilitation and local volunteers provide general support. Community programs are most rewarding in places where school programs have been taught because students come to the community programs and show their friends and families what they have learned through Aquavan programs.

Evaluation

Aquavan staff constantly evaluate school and community programs through personal observation and feedback from students, teachers and the general public. In addition, graduate students in Education at Simon Fraser University have come to observe and evaluate Aquavan programs. Their suggestions were discussed and the practical ideas were incorporated into the programs. The Aquavan program received the Thomas R. Baines Award for outstanding achievement from the Canadian Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums, and the Eve Savory Award for Science Communication from the B.C. Science Council in 1995. In 1996, the Vancouver Aquarium’s Education Department as a whole received the Michael Smith Award for Science Promotion.

Animals

Aquavan programs highlight encounters with live animals from B.C.’s aquatic habitats. Several individuals of each species are kept on the truck and at the Aquarium. They are regularly rotated to minimize the amount of handling of individuals. Most programs feature hardy intertidal invertebrates such as sea stars, hermit crabs, snails, and sea anemones. A few fish, such as starry flounder, are also used in some programs. Live invertebrates are presented as part of a sea otter’s life in a kelp forest, but the Marine Mammal program mostly focuses on slides and props because transporting live marine mammals on the Aquavan would be inappropriate. The Wetland program includes freshwater animals such as tadpoles and aquatic insects. These animals are displayed but not handled by program participants.

Presentation of the animals must balance the needs of animal welfare, visibility, educational value and maintenance. For programs, the marine animals are transferred from their holding tanks (described later) into Rubbermaid plastic tubs (18.5 L = 4.9 US Gal.). To keep the water in the tubs cool, two tubs are placed on ice packs in a larger tub. Air stones are placed into the tubs between programs. Frozen seawater is added to the tubs halfway through the day.

To simulate a mini-tidepool habitat, plastic kelp, rocks and fiberglass moulds of rock are placed into each tub. Grey canvas around the tubs simulates the appearance of a rocky shore. Animals that will be handled during the program are placed in round (diameter: 20 cm = 8 in.), flat-bottomed (depth: 6.4 cm = 2.5 in.) glass bowls. When examining a particular animal, the facilitator lifts it out of the tidepool in the glass bowl, reminding students to be gentle and use only their little (pinkie) finger to discover what the animals feel like. Using separate bowls minimizes the exposure of animals to air and limits the amount of water into which students put their hands, which minimizes temperature increase and contamination.

Educational aids

Photographs of aquatic habitats help provide context for the animals. A photograph of a seashore or a marsh enlarged to fit an expandable frame (height: 2.4 m = 8 ft.; width: 3 m = 10 ft.) is used as a backdrop for the introduction of the programs. Each station has a smaller backdrop made of two hinged panels (single panel width: 70 cm = 27 in.; height: 100 cm = 39.4 in.), with an enlarged photograph of the habitat being explored.
To help students understand the workings of the insides of animals, various explanatory devices are used. These include diagrams, detailed three dimensional models of invertebrates, shells, crab moults, skulls and replicas of body parts. A group of students can get a bigger picture of a barnacle feeding or the mouth parts of an aquatic insect on a TV monitor connected to a video microscope.

For kindergarten to grade two students, puppets are used to introduce the seashore habitat. The puppet play involves a facilitator who reads a poem about visiting a seashore. Even for older students, puppets can be helpful to demonstrate behaviours of invertebrates, such as sea star feeding.

Aquavan also provides other learning resources while delivering school programs, such as an interactive computer program that deals with Steller sea lion research and a display describing pathways to a career in marine biology.

Life support system

The life support system contains, cleans, aerates, and chills sea water for the marine animals used in programs. It consists of two similar set-ups, one on each side of the truck, each with its own pump and chiller unit. Each has an upper section for holding animals, and a lower section consisting of a biological filter and a separate water reservoir. The tanks are all made of clear acrylic (thickness: 2.5 cm = 1 in.) fitted into a frame of stainless steel. Both sides are in use at all times. Having them operate independently provides a possible backup because if necessary, all the animals could fit on one side.

The upper section (length: 2 m = 6.6 ft.; width: 0.5 m = 1.6 ft.; depth: 0.3 m = 1.1 ft.) is subdivided into five sections. The outer sides and back of the upper section are covered in 0.25 m thick black foam for added insulation. The front face is left clear to check the animals. Each section has a boat hatch with a gasket and twisting locks, but ratchet straps are needed to seal them completely. When the Aquavan is parked, the lids are opened to increase gas exchange with the air. The sections have gaps (diameter: 5 cm = 1.9 in.) in the bottom front corners to allow for water to move between the sections. The water flows to two drainpipes, one at either end of the holding tank, that lead down to the filter compartment.

The water used in the display of marine animals gets discarded at the end of the day. The two reservoirs for seawater each contain about 350 L (92.7 US Gals.). These can provide enough seawater for up to two weeks of marine programs. If away from the Aquarium for more than two weeks, then artificial seawater is made.

The filter compartment (length: 1 m = 3.3 ft.; width: 0.5 m = 1.6 ft.; depth: 0.5 m = 1.6 ft.) is divided in half. Each section comprises, from top to bottom: a dispersion plate, disposable filter cotton, reusable fibre filter pad, bioballs, filter rolls sitting on a false bottom. Because of space constraints, carbon and coral sand are placed in flow-through containers in the frontmost section of the animal holding tank.

From the filter compartment, the water passes through the pumps and chillers. The chiller temperature can be adjusted but is generally kept at about 11° C. The temperature in Vancouver seldom goes below 0° C and the system was designed to keep things cool under warm conditions, but not vice versa, so a space heater is used if the temperatures get too cold during the winter. The chillers are connected to a converted air conditioning unit mounted on the roof of the truck box. The water then flows into each of the five sections of the animal holding tanks, each with its own flow control, a useful feature when the ground is not quite level. Some of the chilled water flows through narrow pipes along the bottom of each reservoir compartment to cool the reservoir water.

Staff verify that the systems are running daily. They check water temperature with thermometers inside the holding tanks, nitrate and pH with chemical tests on water samples and salinity by specific gravity with a hydrometer and record the data in a log book. In the holding tanks, animals are grouped according to compatibility or physical similarity. For example, clumps of the hard-bodied barnacles and mussels are kept separate from the soft-bodied sea anemones and sea cucumbers to avoid damage through collision during travel. Plastic berry baskets are useful for keeping sea anemones from sticking onto the holding tank surfaces. They are also used to hold barnacles and mussels to limit the amount that they slide around. Shore crabs are kept in sealable, perforated plastic sandwich containers within one section in the holding tank.

Freshwater animals are maintained in a smaller separate unit installed in a cupboard at the back of the truck to avoid contamination of the fresh and saltwater systems. The freshwater system has a filter and a recirculating pump. It is divided into compartments to house crayfish, sticklebacks, snails and tadpoles.

Animals are fed every few days. Feeding time and animal behaviour is recorded in a log book. Frozen clams, smelts, seaweed, krill and other plankton seem to meet the dietary needs of the marine Fish and invertebrates. The food is stored in a small freezer (approx. height: 1 m = 3.3 ft.; width: 0.6 m = 2 ft.; depth: 0.9 m = 3 ft.) on the Aquavan. Animals are fed individually to ensure animal health and to avoid overfeeding. Excess food is siphoned out the following day to minimize the build-up of wastes. The suspension feeders are fed blenderized food (krill, smelts) in a separate container to avoid overloading the filter system with fine organic material.

Mechanical systems

The truck is about 9.5 m (31 ft.) long and 3.5 m (11.5 ft.) high. The height was limited by a low bridge at the entrance to Stanley Park where the Aquarium is located.

The insured gross vehicle weight is 12,000 kg (26,400 lbs.). The cab is a 1995 Ford F800 low pro. It is an automatic diesel. A diesel engine was required for sufficient power and an automatic transmission was chosen for ease of use. Staff do not require a special driver’s license, but they are provided with lessons in safe truck driving. Aquavan staff perform pre-trip inspections of the vehicle and life support systems and are required to check in at all commercial truck scales.

The truck box is covered with brightly coloured aquatic animals transferred onto an adhesive vinyl sheet by computer. One side has freshwater critters and the other side has marine animals. Major sponsors are recognized on the front and the back. The vinyl sponsor logos can be removed or added as necessary.

The life support systems are powered by a diesel generator while on the road or two 110V sources of electricity when parked (discussed later under set-up).

The diesel generator (Onan 7.5DKD) is connected to the same fuel tank as the engine. It produces 110V power that runs the life support systems while the truck is running and if the truck cannot be plugged in, it serves as a back-up power source.

The truck has two batteries connected in series. They are used and charged by both the generator and the engine. The batteries generate 12V power for internal truck lights, back-up air pumps and the hydraulic lift in the rear that is used to load and unload the mobile habitat.

In addition to the Aquavan, a support vehicle is needed to transport staff, not only when the Aquavan is parked at the program location, but because only two people can fit in the Aquavan cab (three in a pinch). Aquarium vehicles can be borrowed for shorter day trips and a mini-van has been rented for longer trips.

Set-up

Arrangements are generally made ahead of time, but final details always need to be ironed out on site. The first priority is finding space to park the truck within a reasonable distance to the program facility for unloading and connecting to an adequate electrical source. The live animals and teaching materials are loaded onto carts, so the path to the gym needs to be reasonably flat and smooth. The systems require standard 110V power and two separate, dedicated circuits of at least 15 amps each. Aquavan brings its own extension cords of up to 45 m (148 ft.), extra heavy duty 10-gauge cords to minimize power loss over longer distances. Sometimes the thick cords do not fit under some doors, and ingenuity is required to meet our power needs reliably and ensure that the school can be properly locked up overnight. Cords have been run under doors, through windows and vents, onto roofs and into block heaters in parking lots, After arriving at a location, it takes about one hour to unload and set up the program. During extended trips, partial set-up takes place the night before.

Ideally three weeks but at least one week before the arrival of the Aquavan, schools receive program manuals that provide background information and pre- and post-visit activities. The teachers are expected to have done some preparation. Part of this includes preparing the students with aquatic themed name tags. The name tags help Aquavan facilitators connect with the students.

Scheduling

Longer trips (up to one month) further afield (throughout the province) take place in the fall (September and October) and the spring (March until June). A general route is plotted out and schools in these areas are contacted for interest. Preferably, we set up at one school for a few days and have other schools come to that one. During the winter, the Aquavan stays in the Lower Mainland around Vancouver, making day trips or two to three-day excursions.

Funding

Sponsors enable the Aquavan to operate for the same rate regardless of location throughout the province. Initial funding for the project was raised by Vancouver Aquarium Volunteers and commitments from two levels of government (Federal—Environment Canada, Provincial—Ministry of Employment and Investment, Ministry of Education), as well as a non-governmental agency (Ducks Unlimited Canada) and corporations (Chevron Canada, Ford Canada). Some of these have provided ongoing funding as well. Also, to help individual schools defray fees, local sponsors such as Rotary clubs, Science Councils, banks and other companies have been solicited.

Staffing

Aquavan now operates with five staff: three Educators (one partly funded by a special First Job in Science grant), a Coordinator and a Supervisor. Staff must be multi-talented to meet the multi-faceted challenges of working with the Aquavan program. They must be able to: teach ecology to students of all ages as well as the general public, care for marine and freshwater animals, deal with the mechanical demands of the truck and its life support systems, and safely drive a commercial vehicle. They need endurance, creativity and a sense of humour. The Coordinator delivers programs, takes responsibility for the team and programming on the road, and coordinates development of program materials. The Supervisor administers the program and is responsible for staff training and development, overseeing the operational budget, as well as scheduling and booking programs.

Staffing demands vary with location. For day trips, three people can run programs. The Vancouver Aquarium has an extensive volunteer training program and some volunteers can help run programs that are not too far away. For longer trips, four staff travel together to alternate days off, fulfill maintenance requirements and cope with unforeseen difficulties Recently, high school career prep students interested in gaining experience in biology have been encouraged to help with set-up and can help run local programs in communities throughout the province.

Staffing levels have evolved continuously. The authors were initially hired to develop the programs and an administrative coordinator made the booking arrangements as part of other duties. With the decision to emphasize personalized, hands-on teaching, the need for more educators became evident. Initially education staff were seconded from other Aquarium programs, but the various technical demands and the grueling schedule underlined the need for dedicated staff Staffing demands also vary seasonally, with the emphasis being on the school year. The summer is a time for re-covering and re-tooling, with a few community programs offered in the Lower Mainland.

Because of the extended time together on the road, hiring compatible people is extremely important. A gender balance in the team is important to provide role models for both girls and boys. Working with the Aquavan program is an exciting experience, but staff turnover will probably remain high because of the personal demands of being on the road so much. Because of budgetary constraints, services of an administrative assistant have been lost and bookings have been taken over by the Supervisor, along with additional responsibilities related to outreach programming. The long-term effectiveness of this system remains to be assessed.

Conclusions

The Aquavan program has been driven by the Vancouver Aquarium ’s mission to promote aquatic conservation. The educational philosophy of the Aquarium centres around experience-based learning, which is the great appeal of Aquavan programs. These are fun opportunities to explore connections among animals, the environment and ourselves by interacting with live animals in intimate settings. Building long-term relationships with schools otherwise unable to reach the Vancouver Aquarium will help promote local appreciation for conservation efforts in these communities. Challenges will involve keeping the costs affordable for schools and communities through efficient operation and increased sponsorship, without sacrificing either the safety of the working conditions or the depth of the learning experience.